By Mandy Payne, Economic Development Officer
Earlier this month, I was invited to present at the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) Conference in Paris on the success of the Business Jelly Programme in Christchurch and East Dorset.
The OECD provides a forum in which governments can work together to share experiences and seek solutions to common problems. Working with governments to understand what drives social and economic change, the OECD promotes policies that improve the social and economic well-being of people around the world
The Conference addressed why policy support for home-based businesses is needed and highlighted international good practice of home-based business support.
It was such a privilege to be invited to the conference and to present alongside speakers from across the globe including:
- Carmel O’Regan, Director at Department of Employment, Australia
- Lucia Scopelliti, Head of Economic Planning Unit, Municipality of Milan
- Roman Riedl, Envoy for OPE (One-Person Enterprises) Affairs, Austrian Federal Chambers of Commerce, Vienna
- Jake Wiersma, Senior Urban Planner, Municipality of Maastricht
- Chris Webb, Financial Analyst and Deputy Chief, US Small Business Administration
- Tom Craig, Entrepreneurship Team, Scottish Government
During the conference, we shared experiences and ideas and all of these haveprovided valuable information and stimulated new ideas about how to design and implement policies for home-based businesses. These included co-working and crowdfunding initiatives as well as training, mentoring and funding schemes.
Since the introduction of the Jelly programme in Christchurch and Wimborne, owners of small businesses, freelancers, home workers and small/micro business owners have had a place where they can work on their own projects in the company of other small business owners.
The atmosphere is relaxed and informal with the aim of maximising creativity and minimising the isolation that working on your own can bring.
I felt very proud to represent Christchurch and East Dorset Councils at the conference and to share the success of the Jelly Programme with an international audience.
The Economic Development Team is committed to ensuring we support businesses across the area. To find out more about the Councils’ Jelly Programme visit the Useful Links page on the Economic Development webpage.